Price: 53-man roster projection, v. 2.0

With two weeks of training camp done and one preseason game in the books, the 2017 Patriots are starting to come into sharper focus. And so, we’ll take another shot at determining the 53 guys who have the best shot to land a spot on the team come opening night against the Chiefs. (One quick note: After not including Lawrence Guy the first time around and watching him in the first few practices, I went to a blackboard and wrote “I will not omit Lawrence Guy from my next roster projection” 100 times. So there.)


OFFENSE — 25
QUARTERBACK (3)
Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett
Just missed/on the bubble: None.
Analysis: No surprises here, even though Brissett is more of a developmental guy at this stage of his career than anything. Maybe we can all just tell Garoppolo that every day is a game day?

TIGHT END (4)
Rob Gronkowski, Dwayne Allen, James O’Shaughnessy, Matt Lengel
Just missed/on the bubble: Jacob Hollister, Sam Cotton. Hollister played well enough in the preseason opener, but hasn’t really popped in practices to this point. He needs to continue to build on Thursday’s effort with greater day-to-day consistency. But with the crowded picture at tight end, that still might only be good enough for a practice squad spot.
Analysis: Still need to see more of O’Shaughnessy before he can be declared a roster lock — he can’t seem to stay on the field.

RUNNING BACK (5)
Mike Gillislee, Rex Burkhead, Dion Lewis, James White, James Develin
Just missed/on the bubble: Brandon Bolden, LeShun Daniels, D.J. Foster.
Analysis: Written off a million times in a million preseason roster projections since 2012, Bolden is like one of those zombies that can’t be killed. Given his special teams skills and some other spots on the roster, he could still find a spot. But right now, he might be the 54th guy. And after strong starts, we need to see more of Gilislee and Burkhead, both of whom haven’t seen the field as of late.

WIDE RECEIVER (5)
Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman, Malcolm Mitchell, Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan
Just missed/on the bubble: Austin Carr, Devin Lucien
Analysis: Carr was dynamite on Thursday, but he still needs to do a better job of stringing together consistent practices. That’s why, at least for now, he's neck and neck with Lucien. (Although Carr could have that “better in games than practices” thing like the backup quarterback. We shall see.)

OFFENSIVE LINE (8)
Nate Solder, Joe Thuney, David Andrews, Shaq Mason, Marcus Cannon, Ted Karras, LaAdrian Waddle, Tony Garcia
Just missed/on the bubble: Cameron Fleming, Conor McDermott, James Ferentz
Analysis: Who’s going to be the swing tackle? And who is going to be the jack-of-all-trades type to backup the interior? Right now, it’s Waddle and Karras, although there’s still time between now and the start of the regular season for Fleming, Ferentz or another guy who separate themselves from the rest of the pack.

DEFENSE — 24
DEFENSIVE LINE (8)
Lawrence Guy, Deatrich Wise, Trey Flowers, Malcom Brown, Kony Ealy, Vincent Valentine, Alan Branch, Derek Rivers
Just missed/on the bubble: Adam Butler, Josh Augusta, Woodrow Hamilton
Analysis: Butler is the tough cut here, but the feeling is the Patriots figure out a way to keep him around in some form or fashion. Same for Augusta. (Both are p-squad eligible.) For what it's worth, we're certainly not all-in on Ealy. Frankly, at this point, he could be the first one out the door if New England wants to add depth at another position.

LINEBACKER (6)
Dont’a Hightower, Shea McClellin, David Harris, Kyle Van Noy, Harvey Langi, Elandon Roberts
Just missed/on the bubble: Trevor Bates (who is practice squad eligible), Jonathan Freeny
Analysis: The Patriots still have to figure out which guy works best wth Hightower, who is going to be the North Star of this defense. The problem? He’s still on PUP, so it’s tough to discern who that’s going to be. At this point, the best option might be a combination of linebackers for a few reasons, not the least of which is the fact that this summer, the New England safeties appear to be able to provide a variety of looks in pass coverage.

CORNERBACK (5)
Stephon Gilmore, Malcolm Butler, Eric Rowe, Cyrus Jones, Jonathan Jones
Just missed/on the bubble: Justin Coleman, Kenny Moore. (Although we wouldn’t be shocked if Moore found a way to stick around Foxborough in some form or fashion. He's got the look of a practice squadder.)
Analysis: We’re going to keep Cyrus Jones on the roster for now, but at this point, his position is more than a little tenuous. Jonathan Jones has been impressive this spring, but Rowe still might have the inside track on the third corner at this point in the summer.

SAFETY (5)
Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, Patrick Chung, Nate Ebner, Brandon King
Just missed/on the bubble: Jordan Richards, who still has practice squad eligibility.
Analysis: We’ve written about this before, but this is a really impressive group of safeties. McCourty, Harmon and Chung have worked together for years, and have developed a terrific chemistry with each other. This summer, they’ve all been shuffled to different spots in the field, and have all had success. In addition, their respective coverage skills should also allow them to paper over any deficiencies at the back end of the cornerback depth chart.

SPECIAL TEAMS — (4)
Stephen Gostkowski, Ryan Allen, Joe Cardona, Matthew Slater
Just missed/on the bubble: None.
Analysis: There are cries out there for a second kicker to come in and challenge Gostkowski. Right now, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.